SATURDAY'S GAME: The Washington State University football team (1-8, 0-6) looks for its first conference win of the season as it hosts California (4-4, 2-3) at Martin Stadium, Saturday (Nov. 6). Kickoff between the Cougars and Golden Bears is scheduled for 1 p.m., with the game being televised by FSN NW. The broadcast crew includes Tom Glasgow on play-by-play, Jason Stiles as analyst and Jen Mueller reporting from the sidelines.

WASHINGTON STATE vs. CALIFORNIA - THE SERIES: The 2010 meeting between the Cougars and Golden Bears marks the 72nd time the two teams have met on the gridiron, with Cal holding a 41-25-5 series advantage. When playing in Pullman, the Cougars hold a 12-6-1 advantage. The Golden Bears have won each of the last five meetings, including a 49-17 victory last season in Berkeley. IN that game Jeff Tuel threw for 354 yards, which remains as his career high.

FORREST GETS RECORDS: Senior punter Reid Forrest replaced Kyle Basler as the most decorated punter in Cougar history last Saturday against Arizona State. Forrest punted six times for 271 yards, giving his 256 punts for 10,879 yards in his career, tops all-time in both categories at WSU. Basler held the top marks with 255 punts and 10,794 yards. His career punting average of 42.5 ranks second all-time amongst punters with more than 150 career punts, behind Gavin Hedrick (43.4). Forrest is averaging a career-best 45.2 yards per punt this season, putting him fourth in the Pac-10 and 18th nationally. Against the Sun Devils Forrest had three punts over 50 yards, including a season-high-tying effort of 64 yards.

WILSON AMONG FRESHMEN ELITE: Wide receiver Marquess Wilson continues to be one of the top freshmen in the nation. Wilson, who leads the Cougars in receiving yards (98.3 ypg) and is second in receptions (5.1 rpg), leads all freshmen nationally in both categories. Wilson ranks ninth among all FBS receivers in yards per game and is 57th in receptions. Additionally, he leads the Pac-10 in receiving yards per game and ranks sixth in receptions per game.

BUCANNON LEADING DEFENSE: True freshman safety Deone Bucannon has made quite an impact on the Cougar defense since he was inserted into the starting lineup four games ago. In that stretch Bucannon has recorded 44 total tackles (36 solo), to go with two tackles-for-loss and four pass break-ups. He had the best game of his young career against No. 17 Arizona three weeks ago, registering a game-high 16 tackles, 14 solo. The 14 solo tackles are tied for the fifth-most in school history and the most by a Cougar freshman. Backing up that performance Bucannon led the Cougars with 15 tackles (11 solo) at Stanford.

FSN NW TO TELEVISE OREGON STATE GAME: FSN NW has announced it will televise the Nov. 13 contest between Washington State and Oregon State. Gametime has been set for 1 p.m.

COLLEGE GAMEDAY RECORD: In addition to Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso, ESPN's College Gameday has had another constant - the WSU flag, which this weekend will be making its 100th consecutive appearance on the weekly show, dating back to the beginning of the 2004 season. Two flags - Ol' Crimson and Whitey - have been flown in the background of the Gameday set by dozens of friends and alumni. WSU recognized the Gameday flag wavers in a pregame ceremony prior to the Montana State game earlier this season. In addition to the flags that fly, there is a traveling flag signed by the holders after each episode. The traveling flag is retired after each season, the first of which is hanging in WSU's Alumni Center.

ARMED FORCES DAY: WSU players and coaching staff will wear yellow ribbons with a Cougar head logo on their uniforms for Saturday's Armed Forces Day game against California. The players will wear a sticker on their helmets while the coaching staff will wear the same ribbon on their hats. WSU Athletics partnered with the Veterans Tickets Foundation to provide tickets to veterans and active duty soldiers for the game. More than 450 tickets were distributed for the game. WSU Athletics would like to thank everyone involved for their efforts in this cause.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Through the first nine games this season the Cougars have faced the second-toughest schedule in the nation, according to Jeff Sagarin's NCAA Football Ratings. The four most difficult schedules all belong to Pac-10 schools, in order: 1. Oregon State, 2. WSU, 3. Washington and 4. UCLA.

TUEL PLAYING AT HIGH LEVEL: Quarterback Jeff Tuel continues to mature as the Cougar signal caller. The sophomore has thrown for more than 200 yards in each game this season. He currently ranks fourth in the conference in passing average (248.1) and is sixth in total offense (254.3). Two weeks ago against Stanford he threw for 298 yards and a career-best four touchdowns.

NWACHUKWU AN ARA FINALIST: Washington State University safety Chima Nwachukwu has been named one of 10 finalists for the 2010 ARA Sportsmanship Award, presented annually by the Awards and Recognition Association (ARA) and given to one outstanding NCAA Division I collegiate football player who best personifies the spirit of sportsmanship. Nwachukwu was also a Lowe's CLASS Award and National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete semifinalist. The 2010 Sportsmanship Award winner will be chosen later this month.

COUGARS ON MID-SEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS: Four members of the Washington State University football team were included on Phil Steele's Midseason All-Pacific-10 Conference list. Sophomore defensive end Travis Long and freshman wide receiver Marquess Wilson were named to the second team while junior wide receiver Jared Karstetter and redshirt junior linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis were each named to the third team.

PASSING GAME SHOWING SIGNS: The Cougar passing attack has thrown for more than 200 yards in each of its first nine games and currently ranks 5th in the Pac-10 in passing offense at 258.1 yards per game. Over the past two years the offense had thrown for more than 200 yards a combined seven times.